Shift work pay differentials and practices in manufacturing

1 Shift work pay diflerentials and practices in manufacturing Most of the late- Shift workers received premium pay for such schedules; however, Shift differential pay has not increased as rapidly as basic day- Shift wage levels SANDRA L. KING AND HARRY B. WILmAMS About one-fourth of the production workers in metropolitan area factories worked on late shifts in the early 1980's-a proportion that has remained fairly stable over the past two decades. The incidence of late- Shift work , however, varies greatly among manufacturing industries, ranging from less than 5 percent of the production work force in such labor intensive industries as apparel and wood furniture to ap-proximately one-half in more capital intensive industries such as cotton and manmade textiles, cigarettes, and glass containers. In 1984, at least nine-tenths of the late- Shift workers in urban factories received premiums over the pay rates of their day- Shift counterparts. Most commonly, the differen-tial was a cents-per-hour addition to day- Shift rates, aver-aging cents for work on the second Shift and cents for work on the third Shift .

2 For those cases in which there were percentage differentials , the average was percent of day rates for the second Shift and percent for the third. Among individual industries surveyed between May 1978 and October 1984, types and amounts of differentials varied widely. For second shifts, cents-per-hour differentials commonly averaged between 10 and 20 cents; percentage premiums, usually between 5 and 10 percent. Similar ranges for third shifts were 15 to 25 cents per hour and 5 to 10 percent. differentials expressed in cents-per-hour have been Sandra L. King is project director of Industry Wage Surveys in the Division of Occupational Pay and Employee Benefit Levels, Bureau of Labor Sta-tistics. Hang B. Williams is a labor economist in the same division. Glossary of Shift terms Fixed Shift : An arrangement whereby employees remain on the same daily work schedule for long periods of time. First Shift (day): A work period in which half or more of the hours fall between 8am and 4pm.

3 Second Shift (evening): A work period that is scheduled to end at or near midnight. Third Shift (night, graveyard, lobster): A work period that is scheduled to start at or near midnight. Rotating Shift : An arrangement whereby employees work successive weeks on day, evening, and night schedules. Oscillating Shift : An arrangement whereby employees al-ternate, usually weekly, between day and evening shifts, or between evening and night shifts, but do not make the full 24-hour cycle as under rotating Shift arrangements. Split Shift : A daily work schedule which is divided into two or more parts; for example, work lam to l lam, off IIam to 2pm, and work 2pm to 6pm. Swing Shift : A relief or fourth Shift used at periodic in-tervals in plants with rotating shifts, and operating 7 days a week. It may also be used to equalize day and night work among workers. increased periodically but, generally, not as rapidly as basic hourly pay rates. These observations are derived from data collected in the Bureau of Labor Statistics' area and industry wage survey programs.

4 Both surveys report occupational wage rates and the incidence of selected employee benefits and establish-ment practices , including late- Shift provisions and practices . Area wage surveys are conducted annually in a sample of 70 Standard Metropolitan Statistical Area (SMSA'S). Al-though the emphasis is on occupational pay and benefits found in individual areas, results of the 70 area surveys are combined, with appropriate weighting, to represent all SMSA'S in the United States (excluding Alaska and Hawaii).' As of July 1984, factories within scope of the wage survey pro-gram employed three-fifths of the Nation's 13 million man-ufacturing production workers .2 Twenty-five industry wage surveys are conducted in the manufacturing sector and 15 in nonmanufacturing, generally on a 3- or 5-year cycle. 3 The most recent industry surveys used in this analysis-which is limited to the manufacturing sector-span the period between October 1979 and October 1984 which included both upswings and downturns in the economy.

5 They covered industries employing about one-fifth of all manufacturing production workers in 1984. Late- Shift operations Late- Shift operations in manufacturing are primarily a product of economic and technological developments as-sociated with factory production.' Increasing ratios of cap-ital investment to labor costs provide an incentive for maximum use of plant and equipment. Furthermore, con-tinuous process industries, like basic steel, require round-the-clock operations to avoid high start-up and shut-down costs. Lower rates charged by electric utilities for night usage may provide another incentive for customers to add Shift work . Still another factor may be the need for tem-porary night workers to meet unanticipated or seasonal in-creases in the demand for a factory's output.' Establishments operating at night may use either a second Shift only or both second and third shifts to supplement their daytime hours. The second (evening) Shift generally ends at or near midnight, while the third (night) Shift begins at this time.

6 Arrangement is thus commonly made for three 8-hour shifts in a 24-hour period.' Individual employees may regularly work on the same Shift or may alternate among shifts. The various possibilities are described in a glossary of Shift terms. (See the box.) Incidence of late- Shift work Workers on late shifts accounted for percent of the 6 million production and related workers employed in met-ropolitan area factories in 1984.' (See table 1.) This com-pares with percent of 7 million workers in 1959-60, the earliest period for which such data are In 1984, percent of the factory production workers were on second shifts and percent were on third shifts. The incidence of late shifts among metropolitan areas varied, in part, because of differences in industry mix within individual localities. In the Miami area, for example, where Table 1. Percent of manufacturing production workers on late shifts and average Shift differentials , metropolitan areas' of the United States, 1959-ff4 Awrep Shift p year m percent Percent with Shift dllbreotlel differential hift and :hill employed Uniform Uniform schedule on low hilt Total - Uniform Others Cents- Uniform per- percentage per- pereentap hour hour 1959-80 Second Shift .

7 Third Shift ..1 .5 1984-85 Second Shift ..9 Third Shift ..9 .5 1967-68 Second Shift ..8 Third Shift .. 7 1971-72 Second Shift .. 5 Third Shift .. 5 1975 Second Shift ..5 Third Shift ..4 1977 Second Shift .. 5 Third Shift ..4 1980 Second Shift ..4 Third Shift ..6 1984 Second Shift .. 4 Third Shift ..6 'Standard Metropolitan Statistical Areas (excluding those in Alaska and Hawaii), as defined by the Office of Management and Budget. 2 Data are based on BLS wage surveys of 60 metropolitan areas in 1959-60; 80 areas in 1964-65; 85 metropolitan areas in 1967-68 and 1971-72; and 70 areas in 1975, 1977, 1980, and 1984. The results of these surveys were weighted to represent all Standard Metropolitan Statistical Areas, excluding those in Alaska and Hawaii, as defined by the Office of Management and Budget in 1959, 1961, 1967, and 1974.

8 31ncludes pay at regular rates for more hours than worked, a paid lunch period not provided day- Shift workers, a flat sum per Shift , and other provisions, often provided in combination with a cents or percentage differential for hours actually worked. NOTE: Because of rounding, sums of individual items may not equal total. A tabulation providing distributions of cents-per-hour and percentage differentials is available from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. there is a high share of apparel industries, the relatively low proportions of late- Shift percent on second shifts and percent on third shifts in 1984-reflect the influence of the apparel industries, which do not typically operate late shifts. In Green Bay, however, where there is round-the-clock pulp and paper manufacturing , second shifts accounted for percent of the manufacturing production workers and third shifts, for The incidence of late shifts is generally highest in in-dustries that are capital intensive, including those having continuous process operations.

9 (See examples from the Bu-reau's industry wage survey program shown in table 2.) The highest proportions of workers on late shifts are in cotton and manmade textile ( percent), cigarette (51 percent), and glass container industries (50 percent) which are all capital intensive. Late shifts accounted for between 40 and 50 percent of the workers in a number of other industries, including those with continuous process operations (basic steel; pulp, paper, and paperboard; blended and prepared 27 MONTHLY LABOR REVIEW December 1985 a Shift work in manufacturing Table 2. Percent of production and related workers employed on late shifts and percent paid Shift differentials , selected manufacturing Industries, 1973-84 Most recent BLS surrey' Precious BLS amyl All Seared shM Third Shift All Second shM Third thill! Industry Su production production dace and related workers worM" RsaMng wow"g Reahring date and related workers working RoaMng working ReaMng differential differential diRerential dMerential (thoucands) (thousands) Food and kindred products: Meatpacking.)

10 June/84 82,948 May/79 104,348 Prepared meat products.. June/84 50,854 May/79 48,804 Flour and other grain mill products .. 8,115 11 .8 10,550 Rice milling.. 3,246 2,642 Blended and prepared flour.. 5,588 5,187 Wet corn milling.. 6,312 6,337 Tobacco manufactures: Cigarettes .. June/81 32,438 May/76 32,826 Textile mill products: Cotton and manmade textiles .. 269,079 May/75 305,530 Wool textiles .. 13,088 May/75 13,122 Women's hosiery .. 20,107 July/76 23,803 Other hosiery.. 28,032 July/76 23,913 Textile dyeing and finishing .. 48,927 June/76 51,458 Apparel and other textile products: Men's and boys' suits and coats .. June/84 46,716 (2) (2) April/79 61,409 (2) (2) Men's and boys' shirts .. May/84 64,789 (3) (3) (3) (3) May/81 64,969 (3) (3) (3) (3) Men's and boys' separate trousers.